The Longest Dream
by Card of Spade
Summary: Many things could be said about the planet Mira; mysterious, enigmatic, puzzling, and other similar terms were at the top of the list. The same could be said about Amalia, an amnesiac found in Noctilum. But her memory loss could be more than just a product of forced ejection and head trauma. Just who is this "Amalia" and what's her relation to Mira? (Somewhat AU)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Xenoblade Chronicles X_. The game is the property of Nintendo and Monolith Soft, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

 **Warnings:** Some fighting and a little bit of gore near the end of the chapter

 **A/N:** Replaying Xenoblade Chronicles X again, I was inspired to make fanfiction. I wanted to make a story that plays with all the unanswered questions that the game has left us, all through my OC (who isn't Cross). This is why I'm calling my story an AU since the theories I have aren't canon. Also, I have a tumblr account (teddyspade) where I will also post this story, along with other things like character information and such. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy reading!

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Heavy rain in a place like Noctilum was absolutely horrible. Primordia, that was okay, if not a bit annoying. But in the thick forests of Noctilum, where it was already hard enough to navigate through the winding pathways and vicious indigens without the aid of rain? It was a Pathfinder's nightmare. You would think that the natural canopy of branches and leaves high above would act as an umbrella, but apparently not. It just made things a lot worse.

" _This damn weather. Somebody fix this already_ ," Lao bitterly complained in his head as he lead his team deeper into the colorful thicket in silence. The team leader knew he was professional enough to not let a hindrance like the weather get in the way of a job, but he gave off an air of annoyance that kept the rest of his team at a distance. Not like they need to talk anyway, it would only slow them down. Besides, the faster they got out of this damn weather, the better.

The group snuck by a couple of simiuses at the mouth of a cave, across a stream of poisonous water. The enormous creatures were locked in a violent struggle, making it easier for the team to walk by unnoticed. Suddenly, one of the ape-like animals slammed the other onto the side of the mountain, cracking the rock beneath it and shaking the ground from the force. Lao could just barely make out the sound of heavy metal groaning from high above, but couldn't see anything past the glowing mushroom caps.

Then, without warning, a large metal pod came crashing down the mountain. It ricocheted off the simius holding the other, flattening the beast under its weight in a sickening crack that resounded throughout the forest. The pod eventually lost momentum, tumbling in the rust-colored stream. And not a moment sooner, the doors popped open and a young girl was forcibly ejected into the air. Judging by how high she bounced from the ground on initial impact, the Chinese man could say that she was probably not okay.

Without waiting, he and his team immediately ran to her. Lao knelt down and carefully maneuvered the girl onto her back, looking for any signs of injuries. Getting a better look at her, he noticed that she wasn't wearing the standard White Whale uniform that they all had when they were put in their pods. Instead, all she wore was a sleeveless white dress that was getting soaked in the rain.

A guttural growl from up ahead caused the men to snap to attention. The simius still alive was dangerously stalking towards them, glaring at them with a predator's intent. Lao cursed under his breath, hastily lifting the girl up as he stood and shoving her into Shingo's arms.

"Get to the base camp! We'll hold off the indigen!" the leader shouted over the raging storm before turning his attention to the indigen, equipping his sniper rifle. The other two members followed suite, readying their own weapons against the ferocious simius.

Shingo, though fumbling with the extra weight, didn't hesitate to dash back the direction where they came from. He hurriedly navigated through the wet terrain, being as careful as he could to not slip across the grass. The young man silently prayed that the storm covered the sound of his pounding feet.

Before they could reach their destination, Shingo felt the girl beginning to stir in his arms, her head gently bobbing against his shoulder. Her eyes, as dark as her hair, fluttered open and she lifted her chin up and stared at him in distorted confusion. The man offered a brief smile, one he hoped was reassuring, and opened his mouth to reply.

But before he could even get a word out, something shot him in the back, right between his shoulder blades, sending him and the brunette sprawling on the ground. Shingo rolled onto his back and tried to get up, but the sharp roots of a lake mortifole descended upon him. Had he been any less of a fighter, Shingo wouldn't have been able to catch the ferocious claws right before they pierced his eyes. The young man forced the appendages further back from his face and lifted his chin, searching for the girl.

"Run! Get out of here!" Shingo frantically ordered her at the top of his lungs. He couldn't keep his attention on her for long however, as the mortifole fought harder against him, keeping them locked in their struggle. The young man hoped that the girl could at least make it to the base camp where she would be safe and call for help. With the mortifole pushing against him harder, Shingo didn't know how long he would last.

It was supposed to be a simple mission for Team Belisarda; go into Noctilum and set up the first data probe. It would've been a lot easier if they had a Skell, but bringing precious resources into unknown territory was a bad call. Now complications were arising and Shingo wasn't sure he would make it.

Ah, if only he had the guts to confess to Dorothy earlier…

Suddenly, the mortifole shrieked in pain, stumbling backwards and away from Shingo. The youngest of Team Belisarda lifted his chin and saw the mysterious brunette, firing at the flower indigen with his sniper rifle. It must have fallen when they have, he figured.

The girl didn't let up, continuously firing until she ran out of ammo. She lifted an arm to the side of the rifle, as if to grab something that was to be there, but all she grasped was air. Confused, the girl looked at the gun in shock and a little panic, as if she were actually looking at it for the first time. The lake mortifole, taking advantage of the girl's brief lapse in concentration, charged at her as it screeched in vengeance.

"Watch out!" he screamed out at the top of his lungs. He watched as the girl tensed up, her gaze snapping ahead and away from his sniper rifle. Right when he thought the adamant creature could stab her with its roots, the girl ducked out of the way and smashed the butt of the gun from below. Thrown off course, the indigen fell to the ground in a heap.

It tried to get up, but the unknown girl wouldn't let up. She nimbly turned around and launched herself at the mortifole, using the end of the gun as a melee weapon. Shingo was surprised to see her "stabbing" at it, holding the rifle at its halfway point, instead of swinging the weapon like a javelin. The girl ended the fight with a swift bash into the creature's mouth, caving its head in with a nauseating crack.

The forest was silent for a moment, save for the thunderstorm, as neither of them moved. But when the girl crumpled down to her knees, Shingo broke out of his stupor and scrambled onto his feet, cursing under his breath every time his feet slipped against the wet forest floor. He skidded to his knees beside her and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.

"Miss, are you okay?" Shingo wanted to sound concerned, but he needed to be heard through the rainstorm. Before she could answer him, however, guttural growls resounded through the trees around them. Creeping from behind the thick trunks and swinging from the winding branches, several simiuses surrounded the duo in a half-circle. Shingo quickly got to his feet, snatching his sniper rifle back from the girl and standing protectively in front of her.

"Listen to me! When I start shooting, I want you to get out of here! Run through the clearing and keep going until you reach a black bunker! You'll be safe there, I promise!" he quickly shouted at her over his shoulder. Inwardly, the young man's mind was whirling in worry and fear – _Where is the rest of the team? What happened to them? Dear god, are they even alive?!_ – but he forced himself to stay calm for the girl's sake.

The brunette's face stretched in horror and worry, her dark eyes beginning to shine with tears. Shingo gave her a confident smile, or as confident as he could muster, before turning back to the simian indigens. He was touched that she showed so much concern for him despite not knowing him and vowed to give her enough time to escape at the cost of his life.

But before the simiuses could descend upon them, a deafening roar from the sky resonated throughout Noctilum, powerful enough to shake the trees and silence the thunder. The two didn't have time to react as a green blur forcibly broke through the branches and landed on top of two of the simiuses, holding them down in its claws. The others ran off in fear as the dragon lifted one of its victims and began tearing into its flesh with its beak-like jaw, ripping out its limbs and intestines and just spitting them onto the ground like trash.

The girl screamed in horror, screwing her eyes shut and covering her ears to block out the squelching sounds of living flesh being torn apart. Shingo fell back from the force of air when the creature landed right in front of them, frozen in fear and his mouth hanging open in shock.

The other simius tried to break free from the dragon's claw, scratching at the ground in hopes of slipping through. But no such luck as the powerful being lifted the gigantic indigen high in the air, like it was nothing, and sent it sailing through the forest and out of sight. When the other indigen had been desecrated beyond recognition, the monster merely tossed it into the rust lake behind them.

It roared once more, this time sending the other indigen in the area, like the scirpo and dilus, scurrying away in terror. When they were alone with the thing, it leaned down to their level and peered at them. Shingo tried to stand and defend them, but was cast aside like a ragdoll when the enormous creature reached forward and flicked its wrist.

"Shingo!" The mentioned man looked over his shoulder and saw the rest of his team running towards them. Suddenly, a strong burst of air came from ahead, forcing the group to stop and cover themselves from the flying branches. When the young man looked back at where the creature stood, it was no longer there and the gaping hole that it first came through was even larger than before.

He immediately got up to his feet when he saw the girl in a crumpled heap, unmoving. The rest of the team followed. Shingo knelt down beside her and gently maneuvered her so she faced upwards. Checking her pulse and breath, he was relieved to find that the girl was still alive.

"What the hell happened here?" Saiden, one off his teammates and his senior, asked, warily looking around the area for any hostile indigens.

"I-I don't know," Shingo stammered out, shaking his head in disbelief. He still couldn't believe, or understand, what had transpired in the past few minutes.

"We'll talk about it later. For now, we'll return to base camp and discuss what we're gonna do from there," Lao ordered his team, who all responded with their own affirmative words. Shingo slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder before picking up the girl in his arms.

In solemn silence, Team Belisarda made their way back towards the entrance of Noctilum where they had set up base. Luckily, the storm was starting to let up and the evening sun beginning to shine through the dark clouds.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N** \- I'd like to give out special thanks to NullNoMore for not only following and favoriting this story, but also leaving a very kind review behind! Also, I mentioned last chapter how I have a tumblr account at teddyspade. So far, this chapter and the last is the only content on it, but eventually I will be posting pictures and extra information as the story progresses. Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy reading!

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The world was painted in shadows, muddled voices drifting by in arbitrary directions. The brunette's eyes fluttered open, allowing a small sliver of light to wash away some of the darkness. But even the light she can perceive wasn't enough to truly grasp the situation. She lay there, unmoving, her senses gradually slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness. How much time has passed, the young woman wouldn't be able to answer.

Though eventually, she finally got a grip on reality and her mind no longer spinning. The girl slowly sat up, looking around the dark room in a daze, keeping the thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders. When she moved from the thin bed and stood on the metallic floor, the brunette noticed something weird and looked down at herself. She let out a small squeak in surprise and felt her cheeks grow hot when she saw that she had nothing else on, save for some plain underwear.

Further wrapping the blanket around herself, the woman made her way to the door, where the only source of light peeked through the cracks on the other side. When the door slid open, a man sitting alone at a plain table jumped from the sudden noise and whipped his head around to see the cause. The two stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, not knowing what to say.

"H-hey there…I, uh…I see you're awake…" the man trailed off, looking away as he scratched the back of his neck. The girl didn't answer, instead looking around the small room in curiosity. Her eyes zeroed in on white fabric, folded into a neat square, on the table beside the man.

"Oh, right!" the man quickly got up with the cloth at hand and walked over to her, holding it out to her. The girl took the white fabric, one arm poking out of her blanket cocoon, and unraveled it, revealing it to be a sleeveless white dress.

"It got soaked in the rain when we found you and we couldn't just leave you in it cause you might get sick. So we, uh, dried it for you while you slept," he elaborated, looking away with a light blush on his cheeks.

"Why don't you go back in the room and change, then we can talk?" The girl wordlessly nodded, turning around and retreating back into where she slept, her bare feet pattering against the cold floor. Once back in the dark bedroom, the girl threw the blanket to the nearest bed and slipped on the dress.

It did weighed something, made out of smooth, thick material, and went down to her knees. While the warmth it provided was nice, it definitely wasn't as comforting as the blanket from before. Before stepping out of the room, she snatched up the blanket and wrapped it around herself like a burrito.

"So how are you feeling?" the man asked as the brunette moved to sit in the chair across from him. She pulled her knees to her chest, being small enough to sit comfortably in that position.

"I'm good, thank you," she spoke sincerely, her voice a little scratchy, as if it had been a while since she had last spoken. The young man was surprised when he heard her voice. He didn't expect it to be so deep, especially for a woman of her size.

"That's good. My name is Shingo Amari, by the way. Wanna tell me yours?" he introduced himself as he got up and made his way to the fridge in the corner of the room. Shingo grabbed a paper cup from the counter and began filling it with cold water.

"Ah…Amalia…?" The hesitancy and raised pitch at the end didn't go unnoticed by either of them. When Shingo began walking back to the table, he mentally took note of her furrowed brows.

"You don't know?" he asked in concern as he handed her the water, which she took with a quiet word of thanks. Amalia took a moment to down it before answering again with a shake of her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can hardly remember anything about myself." The brunette looked down and away, both ashamed and saddened by her lack of knowledge about herself. Shingo jumped in his seat when he heard her sniffle

"Hey, don't worry about it, okay? We'll take this one step at a time," he spoke fast, desperately trying to calm her down. Shingo wasn't good with emotional people. Maybe his other teammates, sure, but definitely not him. Nonetheless, Amalia wiped her eyes with the blanket and wordlessly nodded.

"So, do you remember anything at all?" Shingo asked, feeling himself relax.

"I remember a cake…I think there was a birthday, but there weren't that many people there to celebrate…only one other person, an old person…I think it was my birthday? The candles said twenty-something. I'm sorry, I can't seem to remember anything past that and the more I try to recall, it just keeps slipping from my mind," Amalia sighed out in despondency with a slow shake of her head.

"No, no, this is good! You remember something, and that's good. Happy birthday, by the way," Shingo congratulated, bringing a little smile to the brunette's face.

"Anyway, do you have any memories of fighting? You handled my rifle like an expert back there." All Shingo received was a shake of the woman's head, along with blank stare.

"I fought? When did I fight?" she questioned him.

"Hmm…" Shingo hummed to himself in thought. He leaned forward and held out his hands towards the small girl in front of him.

"May I see your hands for a second?" he requested. Though confused, Amalia wordlessly complied and placed her hands in his, palms facing upwards. He leaned down, scrutinizing her hands with sharp eyes, running the tips of his fingers along her skin a few times. He even compared his own hands to hers.

"Even though you don't have memories of fighting, your hands tell a different story. There are calluses everywhere, meaning you've done hard work with your hands for a long time now. And judging by their placement and what happened when we first found you, you must have a lot of experience fighting and handling weapons," Shingo deduced, looking up at her.

It was hard to believe that the baby-faced woman in front of him, curled up in the chair and with a blanket wrapped around her, was a capable combatant. Looks can be deceiving, he supposed.

Then again, he wouldn't have known she was over twenty years of age if she hadn't told him. He could guess mid-to-late teens, but never above or at drinking age. In the back of his mind, Shingo wondered if Amalia could drink.

"I guess I shouldn't be _too_ surprised about it. Maybe that's why the let you on the White Whale," he spoke in thought as he stretched out. When he looked back to Amalia, he was surprised to see her surprised. It took a moment for realization to click.

"That's right, you don't even remember the White Whale, do you?" The brunette shook her head in silence. Shingo just smiled reassuringly, showing her that there was nothing wrong with her lack of memory.

"Well, you see, the White Whale…" The two sat at the table under the single light for quite some time. Shingo explained more than just the White Whale, retelling stories of the last days of Earth and new anecdotes of this strange planet they call Mira. He was very spirited throughout his speech, his emotions clear on his face and wild hand gestures everywhere. Amalia watched him with wide-eyed wonder, intently listening to even the slightest nuances in his words.

"…and then Saiden just rushed at the damn thing and–" at the abrupt sound of doors sliding open, the pair jumped in their seat and whipped their heads over to the source, ending Shingo's tales. Three men walked into the bunker, two of them wearing the same armor as Shingo while the shortest man had on a black, skin-tight outfit.

"I see you're awake. How are you feeling?" the man with long black hair asked Amalia, looking at her intently.

"I'm fine, thank you. Shingo was just talking about this planet," the brunette reassured him with a small smile, nodding to Shingo's direction when he was mentioned.

"Hey Shingo, aren't you going to introduce us to your new friend?" one of the men teased, coming towards them and lightly bonking the kid on the head.

"Yeah, I was getting to that," the youngest of the team grumbled, rubbing the spot where he was his. Though when he turned to Amalia, he noticeably perked up and ignored his friend's jesting.

"Amalia, these are my teammates, Saiden Burke," he gestured to the man with a similar buzzcut that had recently hit him, "Mondo Provenza," he gestured to a man with gray hair parted down the middle, "and our team leader and also my mentor, Lao Huang," he finally gestured to the odd one out.

"And everyone, this is Amalia." The mentioned woman offered a shy smile, her cheeks heating up with the sudden attention on her.

"Amalia? No last name?" Mondo asked her as he took a seat next to Shingo, a paper cup of water in hand. The young woman shook her head sadly.

"She doesn't remember anything except her name. I spent the last hour or so explaining the White Whale, Earth, and this planet," Shingo quickly interjected, picking up on his new friend's mood shift.

"Your amnesia must be because of your forced ejection and head trauma when you fell. You might be feeling fine, but we should get to the Maintenance Center as soon as possible to get you checked up," Lao spoke up.

"So when are we heading out?" Saiden asked their leader, already straightening himself.

"When everyone is ready." Lao sent the amnesiac a quick glance and she immediately picked up on the message. They were waiting for her.

"I'm ready whenever everyone else is," she tells the group, to which Lao nodded in confirmation before turning to address his team. Regretfully, she unraveled her blanket cocoon and began folding the comfortable material.

"Alright. If we take the Humvee and head out now, we should be able to reach NLA by early morning, possibly earlier if we don't run into trouble. Everyone else good with that?" the team leader asked his comrades, immediately receiving their affirmations.

"Good, let's go." Team Belisarda made their way out of the bunker with Amalia trailing behind. Once outside, the brunette gazed around in amazement, her eyes drawn to the lights of the forest. But she forcibly tore her gaze from the beautiful scenery and jogged to the men, who were readying the vehicle for the long ride ahead.

Amalia hopped into the back of the Humvee with help from Shingo and Saiden. With Lao at the wheel and Mondo beside him, the vehicle jumped alive and began driving out of Noctilum.


End file.
